New asteroid as big as The Gherkin added to Earth threat-list
The European Space Agency has identified another asteroid as a potential collision risk for Earth, placing it in the top three hazards for the planet. 2025 FA22 is 656 feet or 200 meters in diameter - as tall as The Gherkin in London or New York's Trump Tower - and will approach Earth on September 19, 2089.
The asteroid was found by the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System 2 (Pan-STARRS 2) in Hawaii on March 29 and has been assigned a rating of above -3 on the Palermo Scale. The Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale is used by astronomers to assess the risk of an asteroid or comet impacting Earth. It combines both the probability of impact and the potential energy of the impact to provide a single risk score.
The asteroid's score means 'not currently concerning'. It has a Torino Scale score of close to 1, meaning 'no cause for concern'.
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FA22 will make a relatively close pass on September 18, 2025 before returning in 2089. After the close pass, scientists will have a better idea of the asteroid's make-up and trajectory.
There are 1,782 objects on the ESA 'watchlist' as potential threats to Earth. 2025 FA 22 is currently third on that list, after 2023 VD3 - due between 2034 and 2098, and 2008 JL3 - due between 2027 and 2122.
None of the asteroids has a high potential of hitting the planet at present.
An asteroid named Apophis, officially designated 99942 Apophis, is due to pass closer to the Earth than some satellites orbit on April 13, 2029. Apophis was discovered on June 19, 2004, by astronomers at Kitt Peak National Observatory, Arizona.
It is 340 meters (1,100 feet) in diameter - large enough to cause major regional damage if it hit Earth - and has been named after Apophis, the ancient Egyptian god of chaos.
In late 2004, astronomers calculated a relatively high probability (up to 2.7%) that Apophis could impact Earth on April 13, 2029 — an unprecedented concern for an object of its size. It briefly reached a level 4 on the Torino Scale — the highest ever recorded. (Level 4 means it merited attention from astronomers and potentially civil authorities.)
Impact has been ruled out for the foreseeable future, but it will pass just 19,000 miles from the Earth making it visible to the naked eye.
The asteroid 2024 YR4 recently garnered significant attention due to initial assessments suggesting a potential impact with Earth. Early observations indicated up to a 3.1% chance of Earth impact on 22 December 2032, the highest ever recorded for an asteroid of this size (40 to 100 meters).
The impact risk has been downgraded to nearly zero, and the asteroid has been removed from ESA's risk list.
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Forbes
2 hours ago
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Imaging Satellites Can Protect Ceasefire, Peacekeeper Lives In Ukraine
Images captured by futuristic satellites circling the globe—of Russian tanks crashing the border with democratic Ukraine—were blasted out to iPhone screens across the continents. Spectators stretching from elite EU campuses to the Elysée Palace were captivated when Ukraine's outgunned defenders began launching miniature weaponized drones that halted the armored battalions, whose retreat was imaged in technicolor by spacecraft hundreds of kilometers above the Earth. These robotic photographers, whizzing through orbit at 28,000 kilometers per hour, seemed to change the world—and the war—overnight. Their sensational imagery of the lightning invasion of Ukraine, and its remarkable defense, generated allies for the embattled nation around the world. Yet these celestial imagers might also aid a future peacemaking coalition deployed to help halt the conflict, predicts Valerie Sticher, a renowned scholar on peace initiatives and conflict resolution at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich. Imaging satellites often provide the sole means to safely monitor the most dangerous war zones, and could play a pivotal role in supporting peacekeepers sent to observe a future ceasefire agreement in Ukraine, says Dr. Sticher. One of the globe's top experts on the use of remote sensing technology, including imaging satellites, in ceasefire monitoring, Sticher tells me in an interview that photographs of conflict zones captured by orbiting spacecraft have already been used to help observers steer clear of high-risk hotspots. As satellite-based cameras and radar imaging tech become more advanced and extensive, she says, they could become essential tools in observing truces in war-torn regions like Ukraine. 'I don't think the use of satellite images and other remote sensing technology (such as cameras mounted on drones) can directly replace human ceasefire monitors,' she says. 'But they can play an important role in expanding monitoring to areas where human monitors cannot go for safety reasons.' Ceasefire monitoring teams can now use satellite-based photographers as avatars to chronicle trenches, tanks, troops and other dangers. Satellite 'imagery can also provide photographic evidence that is harder to dispute than witness accounts—an important advantage in the context of potential disinformation campaigns,' Sticher says. This transformation of imaging sats into surrogate truce observers began during an earlier ceasefire operation in Ukraine mounted by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The OSCE deployed its 'Special Monitoring Mission' team of hundreds of unarmed observers as part of a ceasefire agreement that Moscow only haltingly signed onto after its troops led the surprise takeover of the Ukrainian region of Crimea, and then started arming Moscow-backed militias along the nearby borderlands. Yet the terms of the truce provided no enforcement mechanisms for ceasefire violations, much less for punishment of any party breaking the agreement. As a result, violations exploded, sometimes endangering the patrols of the peacekeepers. In 2017, after a surreptitiously planted landmine killed peacekeeper Joseph Stone, an American paramedic, the ceasefire contingent ramped up reliance on satellites to monitor especially hazardous sectors surrounding the 400-kilometer-long 'line of contact' separating the two sides in the conflict. U.S. Senator Roger Wicker said at the time that he lamented Joseph Stone's 'tragic death' while carrying out peacekeeping duties 'in territory controlled by Russian-backed separatists.' Wicker, who is now the powerful chairman of the Senate's Armed Services Committee, added: ''Russian-led separatist forces continue to commit the majority of ceasefire violations' in Ukraine, and said OSCE observers were likely deliberately targeted by the Russian-supported militants. Sticher, who has headed a series of leading studies on ceasefire monitoring aided by advanced satellite technologies, says in one paper: 'The war in Ukraine has pushed the role of satellite imagery in armed conflicts into the spotlight.' During the first space race, the superpowers began launching super-secret spacecraft to detect the firing of nuclear missiles and map enemy military installations. But with the new-millennium NewSpace race, expanding constellations of independent satellites outfitted with sophisticated cameras, she says, are being 'employed by a wide range of human rights, humanitarian, and peacekeeping actors to mitigate the impact of violence or support the resolution of armed conflicts.' The peacekeeping operation in Ukraine has been lauded worldwide for its leading-edge use of satellites and uncrewed aerial vehicles, or drones, equipped with cameras to provide real-time detection of troop movements, missile batteries and the flow of refugees away from battlefronts. But the makeshift ceasefire agreement, riddled with breaches, sometimes placed the monitors in high-risk situations. 'OSCE staff reported that the risk of UAVs being shot down was a serious impediment to monitoring,' Sticher and her colleague Aly Verjee, a scholar at Sweden's University of Gothenburg, say in one study. The ceasefire operation lost dozens of drones blasted by belligerents, partly due to 'resistance to being monitored.' And while satellites that passed overhead every 90 minutes provided staggered snapshots of changes along the frozen battlefront, they add, 'Over time, the parties became apt at camouflaging their heavy weapons systems' to hide from these high-altitude scouts. Sticher lauds the peacekeepers who served in the earlier ceasefire operation, which ended with Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. She adds that a colleague at ETH Zurich, Alexander Hug, co-led that mission and penned a captivating first-hand account on his team and their satellite backup. Hug says in his chronicles on the conflict that his peacekeeping contingent relied on satellite cameras to track an ever-changing labyrinth of dangers produced by the smoldering war. Satellites helped his ceasefire observers track major changes on the battlefield, including 'the positions of the forces, damage to critical infrastructure, [and] the presence of weapon systems and other military-type installations.' 'If satellite imagery revealed newly placed anti-tank mines on a patrolling route,' he says, 'the Mission first deployed a UAV in the area to verify the facts and could, if the mines were still in place, re-route the patrol.' In a preface to Hug's report, Philippe Étienne, former French ambassador to the U.S., says although the ceasefire endeavor 'could not prevent Russia's aggression against Ukraine, it helped to contain violence during the phase it was active.' And while the truce was pummeled by outbreaks of violence, 'predominantly by Russian troops and affiliated armed group troops in eastern Ukraine,' Ambassador Étienne says, the peacekeeping team 'managed to negotiate temporary pauses in the fighting, to enable the evacuation of civilians caught in the middle of the war.' Yet Étienne, who also served as chief diplomatic adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron, suggests the peacekeeping mission, its next-generation satellite wingmen, and even the house-of-cards ceasefire pact should all be studied in advance of crafting any future truce arrangement for Ukraine. France has been the major global power to press the Kremlin to enter ceasefire talks with Ukraine, and co-shaped a new round of EU sanctions against Russia until it does so. So far, the White House has failed to match the new European sanctions or the stepped-up pressure on Vladimir Putin to suspend the fighting during peace negotiations. Yet French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said during a recent roundtable with journalists and scholars, hosted by the Atlantic Council think tank, that Paris and Washington might still join forces to cajole Moscow into joining a ceasefire summit. 'Right now, the main obstacle to peace is Vladimir Putin,' said Minister Barrot. During his stopover in Washington, Barrot added, he praised 'Senator Lindsey Graham, who put together a massive package of sanctions … aimed at threatening Russia into accepting a ceasefire.' Senator Graham has already amassed a veto-proof majority in the Senate backing the bill, and Minister Barrot said the centuries-old allies could coordinate to quickly push for truce talks. At the same time, there has been a rush of global peace advocates offering to host ceasefire negotiations. During the very first mass he celebrated to mark his out-of-the-blue election as the new Bishop of Rome, Pope Leo XIV lamented: 'Martyred Ukraine awaits negotiations for a just and lasting peace.' Building on the anti-war legacy of Pope Francis, who was a prime force behind the promulgation of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, Pope Leo also met privately with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and proposed the world's smallest nation—Vatican City—could help stage a first round of peace talks with the holder of the globe's biggest stockpile of nuclear weapons, Russia. Switzerland, which hosted a 'Summit on Peace in Ukraine' last year, could play a key role in brokering and monitoring a future ceasefire, says Dr. Sticher. The quest to end wars and promote peace across the continents is such a central element in Switzerland's identity that it is enshrined in the Swiss constitution. Halting the barrage of bullets and missiles that is decimating Ukraine could draw on a wealth of scholarship and experience across Switzerland, Sticher says: 'Switzerland can play a role, there is Swiss expertise in both ceasefire mediation and ceasefire monitoring.' Any new ceasefire agreement, Dr. Sticher adds, must avoid repeating the mistakes of the earlier pact. 'The new ceasefire should be clear and strong in outlining strategies for dealing with violations,' she says. The truce should also 'explicitly provide for the incorporation of technology such as satellite imagery into a future ceasefire observation mission.' 'If the two sides reach an agreement on a ceasefire with a demilitarized zone, and agreement on what types of weapons can be in what proximity of this zone,' she says, 'then satellite imagery could be used to verify that the parties comply with this agreement.' 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He and his colleagues undertook the Aldosterone bloCkade for Health Improvement EValuation in End-stage Renal Disease (ACHIEVE) trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of spironolactone. The study included patients (age, ≥ 45 y or ≥ 18 y with history of diabetes) with kidney failure receiving maintenance dialysis who were at risk of CV death. All patients underwent an active run-in where they were prescribed open-label spironolactone 25 mg/day for at least 7 weeks with no dosing adjustments followed by a final eligibility assessment to ensure they were ≥ 80% adherent to the medication and that their serum potassium levels did not exceed 6.0 mmol/L. After the run-in period, 2538 of the originally selected 3565 patients were randomized to either spironolactone 25 mg/day or matching placebo. Follow-up was at 3 months, 6 months, and then every 6 months after, assessing for outcomes, safety, drug adherence, and drug resupply. Unlike the run-in period, clinicians could reduce the dose to 25 mg/three times a week if appropriate. The average age of the patients was approximately 62 years, roughly 37% were female, and the median time that the patients had been receiving dialysis was 2 years. The primary cause of kidney failure was diabetes, in just over 40% of patients, followed by hypertension/ischemia in slightly over 25%. The trial was stopped early by the external safety and event monitoring committee for futility, meaning it did not reach the target number events, even after the target had been revised downward due to better-than-expected adherence. Walsh stated that the trial did not reach its primary outcome, with no significant difference in rates of CV death or heart failure hospitalization between the spironolactone and placebo groups at a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.92 ( P = .35). There was also no significant difference between the two treatments when stratifying the patients by sex, previous heart failure, previous coronary artery disease, and the length of time they had been receiving dialysis. Further analysis indicated there was no benefit from spironolactone over placebo when looking at cardiac and vascular deaths separately and when considering first and total heart failure hospitalizations individually. However, spironolactone was associated with an increased risk of hyperkalemia, with 123 events in the spironolactone-treated group vs 80 in the placebo group (HR, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.07-2.22). Walsh noted that, despite the strengths of its large size and the high rates of adherence, the trial is limited by having a low statistical power due to being stopped early, the use of a composite primary outcome, and the challenge in defining the patients most likely to benefit from the intervention. Important Clinical Question Session co-Chair Ronald T. Gansevoort, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and a nephrologist at the Department of Nephrology, University Medical Center Groningen, Netherlands, told Medscape Medical News that the study addressed an 'important clinical question,' and it is 'a pity that it didn't work out.' He noted there have been numerous studies of CV disease in patients with chronic kidney disease who are not on dialysis, but 'there have been so few trials in dialysis patients,' and there consequently remains a lot to learn in this space. As to what the current findings mean for MRAs in general in preventing CV outcomes, Gansevoort said he is 'not sure, because there are drug-specific differences between the first, second, and third generation, and we cannot extrapolate the findings with the first generation to the third.' 'Whether there ever will be a trial with the third generation in dialysis patients, I doubt, because industry will not want to fund it,' he continued, and so it will 'remain an important question.' Christoph Wanner, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and head of the Division of Nephrology, University of Würzburg, Germany, noted that even if the number of patients in the trial were increased to 4000 or 5000 it would still not 'resolve the issue.' 'I think it's the end for MRAs in dialysis,' he told Medscape Medical News , and 'we have to think about what's going wrong in dialysis patients.' 'We started with statins. They didn't work. Hemodialysis/ hemodiafiltration does work, but drugs do not work. Why is this the case? What's going on? Did we design the right trials?' Wanner continued, 'I think this is still a [relevant research] question, but at the moment, with the ACHIEVE trial, the story of MRAs in dialysis is coming to an end.' 'Everyone who deals with dialysis patients realizes there is an excess of mortality, despite advancements in the technology of dialysis over the last 50 years,' noted Walsh at the start of his presentation. He continued that there have been reductions in deaths from atheromatous CV disease among patients receiving dialysis for kidney failure, but 'importantly, the other kinds of reasons, including non-atheromatous cardiovascular disease, remain extremely high,' accounting for approximately 40% of all deaths in these patients. 'Trying to understand why there is such a high risk of cardiovascular death has been challenging,' Walsh added. ACHIEVE was funded by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Canada), the Medical Research Future Fund (Australia), the Health Research Council (New Zealand), the British Heart Foundation (United Kingdom), the Population Health Research Institute (Canada), St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton Division of Nephrology (Canada), Accelerating Clinical Trials (Canada), the CanSOLVE CKD Network (Canada), and the Department of Medicine, Dalhousie University (Canada). No relevant financial relationships declared.
